


strange devices

by roofpizza



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-06-17
Packaged: 2018-04-04 21:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4153269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roofpizza/pseuds/roofpizza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing is, the five of them are close enough that sleeping in the same room is not exactly weird. </p><p>What is weird, however, is the way Niall blushes when Harry asks him how his night was and says, “Just watched some movies with Zayn. Pretty boring compared to your night.”</p><p>Harry is starting to doubt that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	strange devices

**Author's Note:**

> i started this in 2013 and i only just found this and decided to finish it haha hope someone likes it :)

_when can we talk?  
with the face?_

++

The first time Harry notices something funny is on a Sunday a few weeks into the fall semester. It’s quite late in the morning by the time Harry makes his way to the shower. He’d gone out drinking with a group of his friends from his poetry workshop and had only returned home from a stranger’s apartment ten minutes ago. He feels pretty gross, even for his standards, so he decides to take advantage of the surprising emptiness of the bathroom in order to take a shower.

He’s just walking out of the bathroom, hand gripping the towel that’s wrapped around his waist, when he spots Zayn walking out of Niall’s room with the same clothes he was wearing the last time Harry saw him yesterday. He only remembers what he was wearing because he’d stolen the same Guns N’ Roses tank top a few weeks ago and had only returned it this past weekend. It looks better on Zayn.

In any case… ’spicious. 

“Hey, bro,” Harry says, and Zayn’s back stiffens. It takes him a moment to turn to look at Harry, and he looks…well he doesn’t look _cool_ , which is new. “Did you sleep in Niall’s room?”

Zayn starts. “Just…” Zayn shrugs, both hands in his pockets. “Niall and I stayed up late watching movies last night. Fell asleep in the middle of _The Aristocats_.”

“Fun night,” Harry says without one ounce of sarcasm. “Invite me next time, OK? I can’t keep going out with Nick and them; I’ll get alcohol poisoning.”

Zayn chuckles at that, and it looks like the tension has drained out of him. “Tell you what, next time we marathon _Bob’s Burgers_ on Netflix, you’re the first person I’ll call.”

“Thanks,” Harry says. “Hey, I’m cooking breakfast. Or brunch, I guess. Wake up the others in a bit so we can eat together, yeah?”

“Sure, Harry.”

Harry starts walking to the kitchen when he hears Zayn say his name. “Yeah?” he answers, turning to look at Zayn.

“Maybe put some underpants on first?” Zayn suggests.

Harry looks down at himself and sees that he is indeed still naked under his towel.

“Probably a good idea,” Harry agrees and follows Zayn past Niall’s room to their respective bedrooms.

+

The thing is, the five of them are close enough that sleeping in the same room is not exactly weird. His freshman year of college, the same year the five of them had started living together, he’d woken up curled up next to Louis more often than not, a combination of homesickness and the novelty of finally having a male best friend converging to make him seek out Louis’s warmth. They don’t do that very often, not anymore, but it’s not rare for any of the guys to spend the night at the others, or even for all of them to camp out in one bed. 

What is weird, however, is the way Niall blushes when Harry asks him how his night was and says, “Just watched some movies with Zayn. Pretty boring compared to your night.”

Harry is starting to doubt that.

++

Harry forgets about the incident for a while, and doesn’t think about that at all as the semester rolls on.

It isn’t until he’s out with Nick and them on a Tuesday night. He doesn’t necessarily want to be out on a Tuesday night, actually, because he’s, well, sane. But Nick is nothing if not persuasive, and Harry doesn’t have an early morning class on Wednesdays, so what the hell.

It’s early enough in the evening (and the week) that the restaurant they’re having pre-drinks dinner at is not even half full yet. Their group sits in a corner booth, away from anybody who would find their noise annoying, because they are considerate like that.

They’ve ordered, and Nick is telling a story about someone from his job, when the bell above the door dings. Harry looks toward the door in some uncontrollable Pavlovian response, and is surprised to see Niall and Zayn making their way to a table.

Harry’s about to wave them over to have dinner with him and his friends when something funny happens.

They sit on a small table for two, next to the window. Harry is struck by how beautiful Zayn looks in the fluorescent lights (and any lights, but especially this one—who looks good in fluorescent lights?), and is even struck by the fact that the way he’s smiling at Niall right now only enhances his beauty tenfold. Harry looks at Zayn smile until he’s not, is instead leaning into Niall to give him a short sweet kiss.

Even from Harry’s vantage point, he can see the tips of Niall’s ear begin to redden, and the downright silly giggle Zayn lets out makes something clench in Harry’s heart. He’s probably the biggest sap in the world, but Harry believes the way Niall is moving his chair to get closer to Zayn would melt even the coldest of hearts.

“Ey, Harry,” Alexa hisses, snapping her fingers in front of his face. “Thought we lost you there, bud.”

“Sorry,” Harry mumbles, looking away from the way Zayn and Niall’s hands are linked between their glasses of water. “I was just thinking.”

++

It doesn’t surprise Harry at all that Niall and Zayn are keeping their relationship—if, in fact, they are calling it that—a secret. Zayn hates drama, and despite his happy-go-lucky disposition, Niall is the most private person Harry knows.

But it hurts knowing that two of his best friends don’t trust him (along with Liam and Louis) to know about them. He hates that he’s carrying this secret with him, doesn’t know what to do with the load hanging off of him.

He keeps it to himself anyway.

++

The five of them are eating pizza in the living room. Louis’s commandeered the recliner, Harry is spread eagled on the floor, and Liam, Niall, and Zayn are on the couch. They’re watching old episodes of _The Cosby Show_ on the television, but none of them are really paying attention. Louis and Liam are both going through their phones, and Harry is pretending to go through his texts while he sneaks glances at Niall and Zayn who are pretending not to sneak glances at each other.

Finally, Niall clears his throat and springs up from the couch. “I think I’m gonna hit the hay now, boys.”

Liam looks at Niall, confusion on his face. “It’s nine-thirty, Ni.”

Niall shrugs. “Yeah, I’m tired. Good night!” He takes no time to jog up the stairs.

“That was weird,” Liam says.

Louis shrugs. “Probably gonna go jerk off or some shit.”

“Ew, Louis,” Liam says, scrunching up his face at the same time as Zayn puts his feet violently on the coffee table.

“Ey, Zayn, chill,” Louis says. “That’s glass, dude.”

“Sorry,” Zayn mumbles and pulls his sweatshirt over his lap.

Harry uses the timer on his phone to see how long it takes Zayn follow after Niall, but he’s only up to twenty seconds when Zayn springs up and mumbles something about needing to call his mom before he runs upstairs.

+

By the time Harry wills himself to walk upstairs, Louis has already left for his girlfriend’s place, and Liam’s passed out in the couch.

Harry tries to be as quiet as possible as he walks up the stairs and past Niall’s room. He tries to ignore the soft sounds of Frank Ocean and the sound of the headboard thumping against the wall drifting through the door.

++

It all comes to a head a few weeks later.

It’s one of those rare Saturday mornings in which they’re all in the house for breakfast. They’re all eating a different cereal, except for Harry who is eating a healthy portion of melon and greek yogurt. Niall won’t stop teasing him with his bowl of Cocoa Pops, and Louis’s phone keeps chirping with new texts, but it’s a pleasant breakfast so far.

“Jesus Christ,” Zayn mumbles irritably. “Just answer your text messages or put your fucking phone on silent, dude.”

“Fine, crabby,” Louis snaps, and makes a show of shutting off his phone. “It’s just Eleanor anyway.”

“Ignoring your girlfriend isn’t very nice, Louis,” Harry informs him, because it’s not.

“Yeah, well, it’s also not nice when your girlfriend keeps bugging you about going on a double date.”

“I don’t think that’s the same thing.”

“The point is,” Louis continues. “I don’t have any friends to set her friend up with. I don’t know what else to tell her.”

“You haven’t asked one of us,” Liam says helpfully.

Louis takes a deep, deep breath. “Liam, bud… You already have a girlfriend.”

“Well obviously I meant,” Liam gestures at Harry, Niall, and Zayn. “Us.”

“Okay, a few things,” Louis starts. “First, I’d rather shave my head than go on another double date with Harry.”

“Hey!” Harry says, insulted.

“Second, Zayn would just be super stiff and moody about being forced to do something he didn’t wanna do.”

Zayn shrugs in agreement.

“And Niall would just like, I don’t know, I can’t come up with an excuse I just don’t want to go on this stupid date with any of you, jerk offs.”

“Just take Niall with you, then,” Liam reasons. “He’s easy going anyway, and, honestly, I can’t remember the last time he went on a real date with anyone, bro.”

“That’s not very nice,” Harry says on behalf of Niall, who has dropped his spoon and has got his cuticle between his teeth. Harry chances a glance at Zayn too and finds him as stoic as he’s ever seen him. 

“Fuck nice,” Louis mumbles half at Harry and half at Niall, who he’s looking at fully now. It’s always dangerous when Louis decides to grace you with his full attention. “How ‘bout it, Nialler? Amanda’s not boring, and if all else fails at least there’s the possibility of getting laid.”

“Um.” Niall doesn’t look up from his bowl of cereal to meet Louis’s expecting gaze. “I don’t know.”

“Ugh whatever,” Louis says, getting up. He dumps his bowl in the sink and then starts making his way out of the kitchen. “Text me when you’ve made up your mind. Don’t take your sweet time, though, it’s tomorrow night.” Louis only throws a _later losers!_ before making his way out the door.

“Did you guys know avocados are actually fruit?” Liam asks, eyes glued to his phone.

“Do you think you’ll go on that date, Niall?” Zayn asks, swirling his spoon in his sugary milk.

“I’m gonna do the dishes,” Harry announces to no one. 

“I think you should go, Niall,” Liam says, offering Niall an encouraging grin. “It can’t hurt anything, right? And I’ve seen Amanda, and, dude, she’s your type.”

The legs of Zayn’s chair scrape shrilly against the floor when he abruptly pushes himself off the table. 

“I don’t know, man,” Niall mumbles against his mouth. “I have to think about it.”

“Well.” Liam gets up and makes his way toward the sink. “You know how annoying Louis can be, so you better make up your mind soon, bro.”

Liam places his bowl gently next to the sink and flashes Harry a sweet smile before making his way out of the kitchen.

Harry likes to believe that he is the kind of person who doesn’t get involved with other people’s business. 

Except, he’s washing the same dish for the third time in the hopes of at least learning something about whatever weirdness is going on between Niall and Zayn. 

“What do you think?” Niall asks, finally. Harry doesn’t bother answering, knowing full well who Niall is really asking. 

“I dunno, man.” Harry can practically _hear_ Zayn’s fake nonchalant shrug. “I’m not like, your keeper.”

“I was just asking for your _opinion_ , Zayn,” Niall all but snaps.

“Well,” Zayn snaps back. “My _opinion_ is that I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?” Niall asks, an edge to his voice that Harry doesn’t think he’s heard before. “Are you just saying that because—”

“Can we…” Zayn huffs an exhausted breath out. “Can we talk about this later?”

Harry can feel a pair of eyeballs giving him a furtive look, but he doesn’t dare turn around.

“Yeah, sure,” Niall says shortly. “Later.”

+

Harry pretends to leave, really loudly, fifteen minutes later.

When he sneaks back into the house four minutes after that, he hears The Weeknd playing loudly from upstairs and an embarrassingly long whine.

He sneaks back out, cheeks flaming red. He didn’t know what he’d expected. 

+

Niall ends up not going on that double date. Louis reluctantly drags Harry along. Amanda is nice, but she doesn’t laugh at any of Harry’s jokes.

++

There aren’t any more incidents in the next few weeks. In fact, Zayn and Niall appear to be acting even more affectionate towards each other. It takes all of Harry not to just stop a conversation and go “how about those two” to Louis or Liam. Harry doesn’t think they’re being very subtle either, but Liam and Louis can be dense when they want to be. 

Everything is pretty normal for now, though, and Harry is feeling in high spirits when Zayn asks him to go to an art show one Friday night. 

“I didn’t think I would get drunk tonight,” Zayn mumbles against where his head is resting on Harry’s shoulder. They’re walking toward the house, drunk off wine coolers and a pretty nice night. “I didn’t plan for that.”

“The best things in life are unexpected, Z,” Harry says, sagely.

“Shut the fuck up, Harry,” Zayn says, not unkindly. It’s nice out, the weather finally starting to cool after a long summer. The silence is welcome.

When they get inside, Harry decides to make himself a cup of tea while Zayn is totally ready to get into bed. They bid their good nights, and soon enough Harry can hear the stairs creak as he digs around the cabinets for his favorite tea.

Thirty minutes later, he’s making his way upstairs when he hears a thump coming from Niall’s bedroom. He freezes.

It’s only when he hears a pair of giggles that he lets out a breath and keeps walking. He hears a few mumbles before he opens his door, and he thinks they’re kind of cute before he’s startled by Zayn’s voice ringing clearly through the door. “ _Not if I didn’t mean it!_ ”

The weighted silence that follows seeps from the bedroom and into the hallway. Harry doesn’t want to risk getting caught eavesdropping on them, so he reluctantly walks inside his room and quietly shuts his door. He still presses his ear against the door, but whatever, he never claimed to be a saint.

He catches muffled bits of a conversation that gets a little louder and then softer and vice versa for a few minutes. Eventually, though, he hears the door open harshly and a pair of feet stomping away.

Niall and Zayn don’t speak to each other for the rest of the week.

++

They’re throwing a party.

The environment in the house has been tense as of late, and since Liam and Louis had no idea why Zayn and Niall have been acting weird, the obvious solution to them was to throw a de-stressing party. 

Harry can’t complain; he likes parties, honestly, but there’s something in the air tonight. He can’t identify it, doesn’t understand it, really, but he’s filled with unease as the house starts filling up with their friends.

The others don’t seem to have the same bad feeling at all. Liam is drunk already; he’s doing the drunken boy shuffle with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Louis is smoking with a group of his friends from the soccer team in the backyard.

“Hey, Harry,” he hears behind him. Harry turns around and sees Zayn leaning against the doorway. He looks serious, and, alarmingly, pretty sober. “You seen Niall?”

It takes a lot of effort for Harry not to roll his eyes, but he succeeds and instead gives Zayn an apologetic smile. “Sorry, bro. Kind of lost him during King’s Cup. I was surprised he didn’t join us, but I figured he was with you.”

Zayn stiffens a bit at that, and… Okay, out of the five of them, Zayn is all-around the smartest one. He’s book smart, obviously, because he actually likes to, well, read. And he’s pragmatic and a rational thinker. But he’s also perceptive, and he must know that Harry knows, or at least suspects something is going on between him and Niall.

“No, I…” Zayn clears his throat. “I haven’t seen him all night actually. Ant and Danny have been kind of a handful tonight. But they’re passed out in my room now so.”

“So.” Harry takes a long sip of his drink.

“Look, Harry—” Zayn starts, but Harry interrupts him. He doesn’t think he’s drunk enough to deal with the kind of weird teen soap-y situation. 

“Have you looked in the backyard?” Harry doesn’t wait for Zayn to answer and instead loops an arm across Zayn’s shoulders and leads him toward the backyard. “Let’s get you stoned, bro.” At that, Zayn lets out a resigned sigh and lets himself be led away. 

Harry hears Niall before he sees him, and he can feel Zayn stiffen and turn toward the sound. 

“Is that Niall?” Zayn asks unnecessarily, because Niall’s gleeful cackle is unmistakable. It is Niall, and he’s laughing loudly along with a tiny brunette girl Harry doesn’t recognize. Oh shit.

“Who is that?” Zayn asks, voice quiet and, Harry realizes, hurt.

“I don’t know, Zayn,” Harry answers honestly. They look on as Niall shows the girl something on his phone, the white light accentuating how close their faces are.

“Right.” Zayn nods once, then grabs Harry’s drink and downs it.

+

Harry has seen Zayn drunk plenty of times. He’s seen how loose Zayn’s limbs get when he has enough shots of tequila, knows that if he drinks everclear he’ll throw up somewhere that isn’t the toilet and will be incredibly embarrassed the next morning, and also knows that if he gets cross-faded, he’ll get drowsy and fall asleep in the couch so he avoids it lest he wake up with a face covered in Sharpie dicks. Harry knows how to handle a drunk Zayn.

Harry does not know how to handle a drunk and lovesick Zayn.

They’re currently drinking in Zayn’s room, the music from the party downstairs thrumming through the walls. They’re sitting on the floor with their backs to the bed.

“It’s like,” Zayn slurs and then takes a gulp of his oversized mimosa. “Since when does Niall have friends that he won’t tell us about? When did we start keeping secrets from each other?”

“I don’t know,” Harry answers drily. “I don’t know when, Zayn.”

So far, this Zayn is…more talkative than any Zayn Harry has ever met.

“Like I get it, right, Niall’s a private person, that’s why we—That’s why I—Like, I get it, you know but like…He doesn’t—He can’t just…”

Harry lets Zayn ramble to himself like that for a while, despite the fact that the dejected slump of Zayn’s shoulders makes his heart ache a little bit. Harry wants to help, is the thing, but he knows that in order to do that, Zayn needs to be sober and able to communicate in full sentences. For now, Harry is willing to stick with Zayn until he rides out this shitty night.

When Harry comes back to reality, he realizes that the music downstairs has died down.

“I guess the party’s over,” Harry says. He looks over at Zayn to see if he’s aware of anything besides his own broodiness and sees him gulping down the last dregs of his drink. His eyes look heavy, and Harry thinks about getting him a glass of water before he can pass out.

Before he can make any decisions, though, Niall’s laugh rings through the hall into the room, along with the laugh of someone else.

Zayn sits up straight, dropping his cup on the carpet. Harry takes a minute to be grateful that the cup had been empty before he curses the high heavens.

A door slams, and Zayn flinches violently. 

There are the sounds of people shuffling around the room, sometimes bumping into things, then silence. After a few minutes, sounds of a guitar strumming drift through the room. He can hear their muffled voices, and they’re singing, but Harry can’t make out what it is until their voices rise up to an almost yell.

_‘I MUST CONFESS THAT MY LONELINESS IS KILLING ME NOOOOOOWWWW—‘_

\--comes a female impressively beautiful voice, followed by a pair of cackles.

Despite their level of intoxication, Harry thinks they’re pretty good, but he’s not about to say that to Zayn.

“Um, Zayn?” Harry tries, but Zayn is already stumbling to stand. “Pal?”

“I need to go talk to Niall,” Zayn announces, and Harry really should tell him to calm down, maybe put him to bed. On the other hand, Harry downed three tequila shots and nearly enough vodka cranberries to fill their tub, and his drunk self is kind of hungry for a little bit of drama as well as a resolution to this dumb fight they’re having. 

Harry follows behind Zayn as he stumbles his way down the hall and toward Niall’s door. Zayn knocks sloppily on his door but doesn’t even bother to wait for a response before he busts in. 

Harry hears a frightened shriek and Niall’s surprised “What the fuck” before Harry follows Zayn quietly inside.

“Oh my gosh.” The girl is wide-eyed and tucked against the corner of Niall’s bed. She looks a little shaken, but she still stares openly at Zayn and dazedly says, “You’re so pretty.”

That seems to stump Zayn for a second before he frowns again and turns his attention to Niall, who is frowning and still holding onto his guitar.

“Would it kill you to knock?” Niall snaps.

“Do we have a problem, bro?” Zayn snaps back.

“You’re the one that barged into my room!” Niall doesn’t get angry often, not genuinely anyway. He gets irritated sometimes, but that’s his extreme for the most part. Right now, though, he looks livid.

“I think that’s my cue,” the girl mumbles and tries to inconspicuously shuffle off the bed.

“What the fuck, Zayn!” Niall yells angrily as the girl makes her way past Harry.

“Oh, I’m sorry—did I scare off your—”

“Oh no Zayn,” Harry mutters under his breath.

“Sweetie,” the girl interrupts, taking a sharp turn to face Zayn angrily. “You better think real hard about your next words.”

Zayn actually looks like he’s about to clap back, but Harry intervenes. “We’re gonna leave you guys to talk this out.”

Harry struggles to guide the girl out of the room but then turns back and grabs Niall’s guitar. “Just in case,” Harry mumbles and walks out the door.

“What even was that anyway?” the girl asks as they start making their way downstairs. “I’m drunk, but that was weird, right?”

“That was weird,” Harry agrees. “I’m sorry they ruined your night, babe.”

“It’s OK.” She shrugs. “Will you grill me a cheese?” 

It’s the least he can do for her.

~

Harry learns that the girl’s name is Ariana and she met Niall at their very boring economics class. She’s really sweet, and when Harry starts strumming the only song he knows—Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer”—she joins in and her voice turns out to be fucking _nuts_.

It’s really late, so he insists on her taking his bed. She eyes him suspiciously until he assures her that he’ll take the couch downstairs. Finally, she thanks him with a kiss on the cheek and bounds upstairs. 

Harry just bothers to take off his pants and then dumps himself on the couch. He’s exhausted.

~

It feels like only five minutes pass when Harry’s woken up by a tap-tap-tap on his nose. Harry sniffles and blinks a few times until Ariana’s face blurs into focus.

“I think you need to hear this,” she says, and leaves him to follow her upstairs. 

He trudges, exhausted, up the stairs. He doesn’t think anything was worth waking up at ass o’clock until he sees Liam and Louis standing in the hallway, confused looks on their faces. He’s about to ask what’s going on when he notices the sound of Sade playing through Niall’s door.

“Oh come on,” Harry mumbles.

“What the fuck?” Louis asks, irritated. He’s in his pajamas and his face is scrunched up in anger. “It’s five a.m.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t banged on his door,” Liam says through a yawn. “You’re showing real restraint, Lou.”

“Well I was about to, but _she_ stopped me.” Louis points to Ariana, who’s now sitting on the floor, ear pressed against the door. “Oh well if we’re doing _that_ then.” Louis places himself next to the door like her. Liam grumble a bit but follows suit.

“This is an invasion of privacy,” Harry says, but places himself against the door too.

Eventually, the muffled sounds of “Smooth Operator” quiet down and Harry can hear Niall having the first word.

“You can’t deflect arguments with sex, Zayn,” comes Niall’s muffled voice. “It’s not exactly conducive to healthy…whatever the fuck we’re doing.”

“What—” Liam starts, but Louis hits him upside the head before he can finish his sentence.

Zayn snorts a laugh. “I didn’t hear any complaints coming from you. It was more like… _Oh yeah, Zayn, fuck…Jesus Christ just like that, babe_.”

“That’s not what he sounds like,” Harry mumbles.

“What are we doing anyway, Niall?” Zayn asks angrily. “What exactly do you want this to be? Because so far I can’t get a single concrete decision from you.”

“Well fuck me for being _careful_!” Niall lets out, exasperated. “I’m sorry that I don’t just jump into shit without _thinking_ beforehand.”

“Fuck you for throwing that in my face, Niall,” Zayn snaps. “God, this isn’t even the same thing—”

“Isn’t it though?” Niall goes, and Harry can sense the hysteria creeping up Niall’s voice. “I’m just another person you fall in and out of love with.”

“I didn’t—”

“Oh right. You’re not in love with me. You just say that to people who make you come.”

“This is so intense,” Ariana mumbles under her breath, and the rest of them can’t help but hum in agreement.

“I didn’t—”

“You might throw that word around.” Niall’s voice starts to crack. “But it means something to me. God, you probably—I _knew_ it was a bad idea, but you make me so _stupid_ —”

“And you think you’re not the only one who’s _confused_?” Zayn bursts out.

“Well obviously you’re confused!” Niall laughs humorlessly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be with me!”

There’s no response, and Harry is suddenly so sad, so upset by how this situation has turned into such a mess, he wants to cry. He’s never ever heard Niall sound so resigned or so bitter.

“We shouldn’t have done this, guys,” Liam whispers sadly. They begin to back away from the door when Zayn’s voice rings out again.

“Why do you think I’m with you, Niall?” Zayn asks, voice quiet and sad.

“I don’t know!” Niall yells helplessly. “Because I give good head? Because I’m—I don’t know—safe? Someone who won’t fucking break your heart.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s how I saw it at first,” Zayn says, and he sounds exhausted. “Didn’t turn out so good.”

“Yeah, well,” Niall bites out. “Sorry ‘bout that. Promise I won’t fall in love with you next time, bro.”

“Yeah.” Zayn lets out a tired sigh. “Wish I could promise the same.”

“Yeah well…” Harry can practically see Niall’s eyes widen in understanding. Louis starts hitting Liam’s arm excitedly. “What?”

“I thought you didn’t want to be in a relationship,” Zayn says, gathering steam again. “That’s why I—that’s why I took it back that time. I was scared. I didn’t wanna fuck up whatever it was we were doing, but…I guess I did anyway.”

“Zayn, are you…in love with me?” Niall asks quietly.

“Yeah,” Zayn answers.

“Oh.”

Ariana lets out a breathy “aw” and puts her hands on her heart.

“I have no idea what to say,” Niall says dumbly. “How come I’ve forgotten how to speak?”

“How about you start with ‘I love you too, Zayn, now be my boyfriend and have sex with me’?” Zayn suggests.

“You’re so romantic,” Niall says, amusement clear on his voice.

“I’m in love with you,” Zayn says again, as if to emphasize.

“And I’m in love with you.” Harry can hear Niall’s smile through the door. 

There’s the sound of some shuffling before Niall speaks up again. “So what are we gonna do about that, then?”

Zayn’s goofy laugh rings out through the door.

“I think our time’s up, guys,” Louis mumbles, and him, Liam, and Ariana shuffle away from the door. Harry smiles to himself once before getting up from where he was sitting on his haunches.

And he accidentally knocks his elbow against the door.

“Uh.” Harry’s eyes widen. Nobody moves.

“Do you think they heard?” Liam asks in a whisper. Immediately after he does, the door swings open, and a confused Niall appears on the doorway.

“Um.” Niall looks bashfully at the rest of them. “I guess it’s too much to think you guys didn’t hear any of that, eh?”

“ _Bro_ ,” Liam and Louis say at the same time.

“I’m gonna start hanging out here from now on,” Ariana says. “Cheaper than cable.”

“Cat’s out of the bag?” Zayn asks, walking up behind Niall and hooking his chin over his shoulder.

“Well,” Harry says, standing up. He gives Niall and Zayn one last rueful look. “We had a good run.”

Niall breaks into a loud laugh. The rest of them follow.

+

They all have breakfast together the next morning. Ariana helps Harry make chocolate chip pancakes while Louis watches Liam squeeze a bunch of oranges to make fresh juice.

Harry catches Zayn sneak Niall a kiss on the cheek when he finally gets up from bed and makes his way into the kitchen. Harry doesn’t say anything. Some things just don’t have to change.

**Author's Note:**

> for my clickiessssss :*


End file.
